Portable ink fountain



July 7, 1959 s. l.. DE voRE 2,893,317

PORTABLE INK FOUNTAIN 4 Filed Sept'. 18, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 64 20 .ea 62 66 sa ao 410 44 "fa r J1 .56

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INVENTOR 'oLoMo/v L. OEI/ORE a6 ATTORNEYS July 7, 1959 s. L. DE voRE 5 v2,893,317

PORTABLE INK l-QUNTAIN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18, 1957 INVENTOR y SoLoMo/v L. DE l/oRE 'l BY www #'Mw ATTORNEYS United States Patent() PORTABLE INK FOUNTAIN Solomon L. De Vore, Miami, Fla.

'Application September 18, 1957, Serial No. 684,683

2 Claims. (Cl. 101--365) This application is a continuation-in-part of my co- Apending application Serial No. 515,648, filed lune 15,

1955, for Portable Ink Fountain.

This invention relates broadly to printing machinery and apparatus and, more particularly, to means for supplying ink to the roller of a printing press.

Newspaper Iand other printing presses are equipped with means for supplying black ink to the plate cylinder, which means are well known in construction and operation. It is becoming increasingly important, however, to print in color in addition to black and, while multi-color presses are now available which will print in color and in black, such presses are expensive and therefore not available to the publisher of a small newspaper or to a small-scale printer. It has accordingly been the object of this invention to provide means for attachment to the usual printing press, which is equipped to print only in black, which will make it possible for the press to print in color or in black. A further object of the invention has been to provide such means which may be easily and quickly installed, which will be inexpensive, and which are operated by power under the control of the press operator.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be made apparent by the following description and lthe annexed drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a rear side view, partly in elevation and partly in section showing the improved ink fountain of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a detail of the present invention.

My invention comprises a portable ink fountain adapted to be supported on or adjacent a printing press to provide colored ink to any selected roll of the press. A press roller 2 to which my invention may be applied is illus-l 'and 22, end walls 24 and 26, and an inclined bottom 28 which slopes forwardly and downwardly to join with the upper edge of the rear wall 30 of a channel 32 which extends from end Wall 24 to end wall 26 and has a horizontal bottom 34 whose outer edge is integral with the lower edge of the front wall 20. The lower portions of `the end walls 24, 26 extend below the bottom 34 of the "ice 2 t channel 30 and are provided with inturned anges 36 which may be slotted to receive studs for adjustably supporting the fountain on suitable mounting means (not shown) adjacent the feed roller 2.

Ink contained in the fountain of the invention is distributed to the roll 2 through a'plurality of spaced, Vparallel horizontal tubes 40 shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the inner ends of Which project through an elongated external supporting member 42 to the interior of the fountain by way of suitable valve means disposed in the-channel A32 and later described in detail. The outer ends of the tubes may be flattened as at 44 to improve ink flow and are integrally connected to a horizontal and longitudinally arranged distributing tube 46 which, as illustrated in Fig. 2, has an arcuate upper wall 48 and converging side walls 50 whose opposed bottom edges afford a continuous opening adjacent the feed roller 2. Disposed on opposite sides of the opening 52 and coextensive therewith are a pair of elongated brushes 54 which may be clamped in their position of use by elongated channel shaped members 57 from which the ends of the brushes protrude to extend below the opening 52 for engagement with the roller 2 when the fountain of the invention is installed in its position of use. When ink ows through the tubes 40 it flows on to the feed roller 2 through the opening 52 and is evenly spread on the surface of the roller through the wipingfaction of the brushes 54.

As clearly shown in Fig. 3 the tubes 40 are spaced equally along the exterior lower end of the front wall 20 adjacent the channel 32 and the passage of ink from the reservoir of the fountain to the tubes is controlled by valve means disposed in the channel 32. The valve means comprise ori-off valve mechanism for controlling -the flow of ink simultaneously to all of the tubes and individual valves for controlling the quantity of ink permitted to pass through each tube.

The on-ol valve is electrically actuated and comprises an elongated, fixed member 56 which is positioned in the channel 32 and extends from end wall 24 to end wall 26. The member 56 has a plurality of horizontal bores 58 extending through the lower part thereof and in each of which is attached the inner end of a tube 40 and each of which communicates with a vertical bore 60 which extends through the bottom of a longitudinal groove 62 which extends from end wall 24 to end wall 26 in the upper side of the member 56. Slidably received in the groove 62, is a movable valve member 64 which is shorter than the groove to permit endwise relative movement of the member 64 with respect to fixed member 56. Extending vertically through the movable member 64 are a plurality of vertical bores 66 corresponding in number and spacing to the vertical bores 60 in the fixed member 56. It will be seen that with this arrangement when the movable member 64 is slid longitudinally to a position where the bores 66 thereof register with the bores 60 in the fixed member 56, ink in the reservoir will be permitted to flow to the tubes 40 and when the movable member 64 is moved so that the respective bores 66, V60 are out of registry the flow of ink will be cut olf from the tubes.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the members 56, 64 serve as an on-oif valve to control the supply of ink to all of the tubes simultaneously, and in order to slide the movable valve member longitudinally between its on and olf positions there is provided a lever 68 the lower end of which engages a suitable slot 69 in the member 64 and the upper end of which is pivotally connected to a horizontally arranged plunger 70 actuated -th'e bracket 72.

by 'a solenoid y71 mounted on a bracket 72 extending up- `iifa'r'tlly from the end wall 24 and removably attached thereto. Intermediate the ends of the lever 68 there 1s pivotally attached the outer end of a bar 74 whose inner end is fixed to the side of the bracket 72 as shown, the bar 74 serving as a fulcrum about which the lever 6.8 pivots when the solenoid is energized. The solenoid 7l 1s preferably of the pull-in type whose plunger 70 -1 s nor- -mally maintained in extended or de-energized position by a tension spring 76 acting between an eye on the plunger and the end of a horizontal arm 78 which is attached to If desired, the solenoid circuit may be controlled by a manual switch or may include a speed- -responsive switch such that when the press is up to speed the solenoid will be energized to move the bores 66, 60 into'registry to permit ink ow. When the solenoid is delenergized the spring 76 moves the plunger 70 and hence the lever 68 to the normal position shown in Fig. l in which the bores 66 in the sliding member 64 are out of registry with the bores 60 in the fixed member 56 thereby .cutting olf the flow of ink to the tubes 40. Thus ink ows only when the solenoid is energized and flow is automatically Vstopped when the solenoid is de-energized.

Since. the ori-off valving mechanism moves only between full-off Vand full-on positions it is desirable that the rate of dow through each of the tubes 40 be controlled when Vthe valve is in the full-open position. In accordance with the invention this is accomplished through the provision of hand operated valves 80 which extend through the side of the channel 32 into the bores 58 in the fixed member 56. Each valve 80 may be a throttle type valve having a conical head 82, the full open position of which is shown in full lines in Fig. 2 and which is movable by rotation of the handle 84 into the end of the tube 4t? as shown by the broken line position of the head 82 and handle 84. The head 82 restricts ink ow through each of the tubes depending on the position of the head in the tube. To insure even distribution of ink along the entire length of the opening 52 in the distributing tube 46, each valve may be individually adjusted until proper How Vis achieved.

In the use and operation of the invention, the ink fountain which has been described is supported on suitable brackets adjacent the feed rollers and adjusted toward or away from the rollers until the brushes of the distributing tube are in proper engagement with the roller 2. At this stage, the sliding member 64 is in its right hand position in Fig. l where it is retained by the lever v68 and spring 76 so that the bores 66 and 60 of the valve apparatus are out of registry and no ink flows. The solenoid is now energized by manual or other means, causing the slidable member 64 to be moved to bring the bores 60, 62 into registry, thus causing ink to flow to all of the passages 58 and tubes 40 except any which may be blocked by the associated valve 32. The operator will observe the ink distribution on roller 2 and may Yadjust the appropriate hand valves 80, 82 until even or other desired flow is observed. The inking will continue until such time as the solenoid is de-ener'gized, causing the valve bores 66 and 6@ to be moved out of registry to ystop the flow of ink. If a speed-responsive switch is employed, ink ow will stop when the press slows down for any reason.

Preferably, a tube 40 is provided for each column of printed material, eight such tubes being illustrated. The tube 40 and the distributor tube 46 form a single 'structure which may be readily removed and cleaned as va unit. The described arrangement for supporting the bracket 72, solenoid 71, lever 6d and fulcrum bar 74 as a unit permits this entire assemblage to be removed from vthe fountain for cleaning or replacement. The position of l'the adjusting valves 80 at the rear of the reservoir endangered by the lpress rolls. The brushes 54v on oppo- "sit'e lsides ofthe applicator opening S2 draw the ink to 4 themselves by capillary action to insure smooth ink distribution on the inking roller and the flattened end 44 of the tubes 40 aid the flow of ink to the distributor tube 46.

It will be apparent that the described fountain of the invention is susceptible of various modiications and changes without, however, departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. An ink fountain for a printing press having a roller to be inked, comprising a box-like container providing a reservoir having front and rear side walls and end walls, a channel member adjacent 'the lower edge of the inner side of said front wall, said channel member having front and back walls and a bottom and extending from end wall to end wall of said reservoir, said reservoir having a sloping bottom wall interconnecting said rear wall of said channel and a side wall of said reservoir, a Ifixed valve member disposed in said channel and having a groove in the upper surface thereof extending from end wall to end wall and having therethrough a plurality of equi-spaced horizontal bores spaced below said groove, each connected with said groove by a vertical hole, a movable valve member slidably received in said groove and having a plurality of vertical holes therein corresponding in spacing and number to the vertical holes in said xed valve member, said movable valve member being shorter than said groove to permit endwise movement of said movable valve member therein, a plurality of horizontal tubes extending laterally outwardly of the front side of said reservoir and having inner ends connected to said horizontal bores in said fixed valve member, a plurality of hand-operated valves extending rearwardly of said reservoir and each received in said horizontal bores in said xed valve member, a bracket, means for attaching said bracket to one end wall of said reservoir, said bracket extending upwardly from said end wall, a horizontally arranged solenoid and plunger connected to the upper end of said bracket, a lever having one end connected to said plunger and the other end connected to said movable valve member, a fulcrum pivotally fixed to said lever intermediate the ends thereof, a spring acting on said plunger to hold it and said lever in normal position in which said movable valve member is disposed in said groove with the holes thereof out of registry with the holes in said fixed valve member, said movable valve member being moved by said lever upon energization of said solenoid to a position in which the holesin said movable and fixed valve members register, a distributor tube connected to the outer ends of said horizontal tubes, said distributor tube having an open bottom adapted to be positioned adjacent an inking roll, and brushes co-extensive with said distributor tube and connected to the opposite sides thereof to extend below said opening into Contact with an inking roll.

2. An ink fountain for a printing press having a roller to be inked Vcomprising a box-like reservoir having side Walls, end walls and a bottom, a iixed channel member in the reservoir extending from end wall to end wall thereof and a U-shaped valve member mounted in said channel end extending from end wall to end wall of the reservoir, said fixed valve member having a plurality of spaced horizontal bores in the base thereof extending from the exterior wall of the fixed valve member to the 'interior bottom wall of the said fixed valve member, a movable valve member disposed within said fixed valve member and of less length than said xed valve member so as tobe slidable endwise therein between said end walls, said movable valve member having a plurality of bores therein corresponding in number and spacing to the bores in said fixed member, a plurality of tubes extending outwardly of said reservoir each having an end received in one of the bores in said fixed valve member, a single distributor tube connected to the outer ends of said -rst named tubes and disposed over an inking roller, said tube having converging sides dening an elongated opening between the opposed edges of said sides, brushes co-extensive with said tube and connected to each of the sides thereof and extending beyond said opening to engage the roller, means normally holding said movable valve member in a position in which the bores therein are out of registry with the bores in the channel member, and means for operating said movable valve member to bring the bores therein into registry with those in the iixed valve member.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 25, 1934 

